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The Indian touch to an interior space adds a sense of ethnicity and renews traditional aesthetics.

Replete with vivid imagery, bright colours and symbols, art and craft from various regions across our country offer endless possibilities to brighten and animate spaces.

Many of them are deep-rooted with strong cultural and religious connotations.

Executed in almost all possible ways, the art of painting has been an integral part of the Indian civilisation from time immemorial. Folk paintings are the most natural human expressions that have evolved out of an instinctive desire to adorn one’s immediate surroundings.

The desire to beautify the environment and reach out to the heavens above has been the primary motivating force behind the tradition of Indian folk paintings.

One such celebrated traditional art form is the style of Madhubani or Mithila painting.

The origin of this art form can be traced to a town called Madhubani (the literal meaning of which is ‘forests of honey’) and other areas of Mithila in Bihar.

Popular for their tribal motifs and the use of bright earthy colours, these paintings were originally done with mineral pigments prepared by the artists themselves and found expression on freshly plastered or mud walls.

Cotton wrapped around a bamboo stick, twigs or reeds formed the brush. Coloured pigments were obtained from organic sources like vegetable dyes, turmeric, indigo, banyan leaves, soot, cow dung and flowers. Painting was considered a ceremonial community activity and was widely done by the women folk during festivals, religious events, and other milestones of the life-cycle such as birth and marriage.

Madhubani paintings are renowned for their fine line drawings. Stark double line outlines of human figures with diagonal hatching between them are typical characteristics of the original art form.

The colours are usually deep red, green, blue, black, light yellow, crimson and lime green. Warm colours dominate the art work in order to create an apparent sense of concentrated energy and force. Paintings are coloured flat with no shading or empty spaces anywhere in the scenes depicted.

Themes and designs vary widely from portraits of Hindu deities to court scenes, wedding scenes and social happenings and other religious motifs.

Floral, animal and bird patterns, geometrical designs are used as fillers within the gaps. Some paintings are also based on mythological stories and symbolism.

Symbols of fertility and prosperity like the fish, parrot, elephant, turtle, sun, moon, bamboo tree and lotus gain prominence and are deemed auspicious.

The divine beings are positioned centrally in the frame with their consorts while other symbols and floral motifs form the background.

Human figures illustrated are mostly abstract and linear in form. Figures are recognisable by a face in profile while the rest of the body faces front. The animal forms are usually naturalistic and are invariably depicted in profile.

Over the years, this art form has emerged as a commercial activity. The medium of painting has diversified and Madhubani paintings are now available on hand made paper, canvas and cloth.

Though techniques of using natural colours and twigs have given way to the use of brushes and artificial acrylic or synthetic paints, the subject of Madhubani paintings remains unaltered. Wall hangings, paintings, murals and tapestries of this art form are widely available and can be effectively employed to add colour and vitality to your interior space.

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